Average Wage Rose By 5% Last Year
Average full time wages rose 5pc this year, according to ABS data
Nice if you got it - we didn't :(
Wages for full time workers grew by 4.7 per cent on average over the past year, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Wages for full time, private sector workers rosen 5.1 per cent in the past year to $1129.40 a week. Their wages were up 1.9 per cent in the quarter. Public sector employees pocketed an average of $1211.90 a week for full time work, a pay rise of 3.4 per cent over the year. Government workers had a raise of just 0.8 per cent in the quarter. For both public and private sector workers, the average weekly wage hit $1147 seasonally adjusted, up 1.6 per cent over the year.
Economists said those pay rises were more than expected, but that the Reserve Bank will still press on with interest rate cuts. Macquarie Group senior economist Brian Redican said the outlook for interest rates remained unchanged despite the pay data being slightly above expectations. "They were stronger than expected, but really this has no implications for policy makers" Mr Redican said. "The fact that this is stronger means that actually households did have a bit more spending power available" Mr Redican said. If wages are rising, the economy will probably keep growing "at a reasonable pace" he said.
ABN Amro chief economist Kieran Davies said the RBA would not be too concerned about wages and inflation right now. "It's all about growth for them" Mr Davies said. "At the moment they would just take the view that unemployment is going to rise a lot over the next 12 months and you're already seeing a big turnaround in labour shortages so I don't think they would be thinking about wages and inflation risks". Mr Davies expects the RBA to lower the cash rate by 50 basis points at its December meeting, but did not rule out a larger cut. "The RBA has shown both the capacity and willingness to surprise with bigger moves,'' Mr Davies said. He also added "The outlook for the economy is grim".
